Rare Central newt found in eastern Iowa during field trip

IOWA CITY - Some Iowa City Community School District students snagged an interesting find on a recent nature field trip: a rare Central newt.Kids normally net an assortment of turtles, frogs and snails during the annual School of the Wild field trips in eastern Iowa. Fifth-grader Brody Hiscock thought he'd scooped a leech into his net, until he noticed it had legs.Chad Swope, who leads the annual field trips, told the Press-Citizen that herpetologists confirmed the small salamander as a Central newt - a threatened species not native to Johnson County.Paul Frese is a research technician for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources' wildlife diversity program. He says last week's sighting is the only one he knows of in Johnson County.